Cold
by Ita-ta
Summary: Sequel to A Comedic Accident. Complete. Sakura confronts Kakashi about his coldness toward her and why he's been distancing himself from her.
1. Distant Echo

The whole of Konoha was white. No, it was not covered in dandruff, which was seriously disgusting to think of. It was covered in snow. The date was November the twenty-fourth. It was late in the afternoon. Kakashi had been on a steady flow of missions and if he wasn't on one, he'd be in the forest or locked up in his house. Naruto was currently on a long-term mission with Chouji, Ino, Shino and Hinata. Sakura was busy at the hospital everyday and sometimes went on B-Class missions. She had made Jounin level.

The hospital was particularly busy today. Sakura had done three surgeries, two check-ups, five stitches and a find-the-patient-and-return-them-to-their-room (Kiba). She slumped in her chair, his grip on her pen loose as she let out an exhausted sigh. She was currently filling out paperwork at her desk. Oh the thrills she could have.

The night before, or rather, this morning at two o'clock she returned to Konoha her A-rank mission completed. She had made it to the hospital where she assumed the Hokage would be in the morning and crashed out on the couch in her office. The had woken at five o'clock to said Hokage burstng into the room and giving her the orders of the day.

Sakura groaned and set the pen down. In the last hour her eyes had been closing and then snapping open every few minutes. She had barely any time to spend with Kakashi. He was always out and about. She let a smile grace her features at the remembrance of her accidental kiss with Kakashi and then she had fallen asleep.

That was when she grimaced. They had barely spent time together and a month had passed since that time. He had become distant. He barely spoke to her and when he did it was stiff and stony. He never gave her any eye contact. She gave a sigh.

Maybe it was a mistake to even let herself lean on him that time, maybe she should have jumped away and kept away so that she wouldn't have to suffer again. Like this. She wished she could be held by him again, she missed the sensation of feeling so completely safe. Like the world could end and still nothing could go wrong.

Her eyes hardened with resolve. She could go to his house after her shift. She could asked to come in and confront him. She let a smile grace her lips as she set to work to pass the time quickly. She scribbled with vigor, finishing thirteen seven-page reports.

She stood, pushing herself from her desk. She walked briskly to the door, opening and exiting through it. Traveling down the hall, he eyes glistened with resolve and she confidently signed out and strode out of the hospital. She took her time walking to his apartment, thinking about was to say.

When she finally arrived at his door, she raised her hand to knock on the door. Her hand faltered and then dropped to her side, clenching into a fist. She lowered her head and furrowed her brows in thought. Looking at her feet she wondered if she should actually do that. Did the kiss or her falling asleep on him mean anything at all? He was gone when she woke but he did have a mission the next day. But he could have woken her up... she was getting confused.

She raised her hand again and knocked. _Rap, rap, rap._ It echoed down the hall, finally fading into the deafening silence. It was kind of a sad sound. It starts strong and slowly fades into nothingness. She waited, her head raised and watching the door.

Ten minutes passed, she stood out there in the hallway before she finally let her shoulders slump and her head lower. She then turned and made it to the end of the hallway. Only one thing stopped her. The soft call of her name. The quiet voice drifted out into the hallway, piercing loudly into her ears.

"Sakura?"

-C O L D-

Uhm. This is Ita-ta. Hi. I don't own Naruto.

This is the sequel to A Comedic Accident.

**PLEASE REVIEW.**


	2. Fight and Recover

Her heart quickened as she slowly turned around. She looked at him and for the first time in a month, he was looking right back at her. Oh how she wished that he wasn't. His one visible eye looked at her in question.

"Uhm, can I come in?" She asked, taking a step back toward him.

"Sure," Came his easy reply, though sounding a little stiff.

She slowly made her way to him, still holding his gaze as if he wouldn't look at her again if she looked away. She finally reached him and forced a small smile on her face. She broke eye contact and she walked into his apartment. She heard him shut the door behind her. She turned to look at him, her hands clasped together in front of her.

"What's up?" Kakashi asked, his hands in his pockets.

"I-I wanted to talk about..." She trailed off, her confidence faltering. She averted her eyes and then wrung her hands a little. Looking back again she finished, "that night a month ago—"

She was cut off by a sharp reply. "I don't want to talk about it." She was taken aback a bit and her eyes widened. Then they narrowed in anger.

"What?" She asked, frowning.

"You heard," His gaze was indifferent, distant.

"What about the kiss?" She dug a bit further.

"An accident," He replied easily.

This stopped her fire temporarily. An _accident_? He wanted to brush her off like a piece of _trash_? She took a step toward him, her gaze fiery. "An accident?! So what, you came and held me in your arms just 'cause you felt like it? What, was it _pity_? The poor pink-haired girl with a large forehead can't control her damn _emotions_. She's not a true shinobi, let's give her some pity so she'll feel better for herself. Is that it?!" She growled out.

"It's not like—" Kakashi started.

"I'm surprised you'd stoop so low Hatake. Aren't you a sensei? Aren't you supposed to help us and not just brush us off? Some sensei you—" She was brutally halted in her sentence by him pushing her up against the wall. His hands held her wrists above her head, his body weight against hers, keeping her feet from flailing.

"It's _not_ like that," He breathed harshly, his eyes boring down into hers. His breathing was irregular.

"Then _what_ is it like?" She sniped back, her anger flaring at being so _damn_ helpless against him.

"I can't answer that," His voice was rugged, his eye shutting for a moment. He let a sigh escape his lips that were so close to her forehead. He then opened his eye, it was distant, cold.

"Why can't you? Why have you been avoiding me?!" She growled.

"I haven't." He denied.

"You _have_!" She snarled. "You are always so distant and cold! You have been avoiding me as much as possible."

At this he remained silent. She glared up into his eye and expressed fury in her emerald eyes. Her lips were twisted into a snarl and her brows furrowed in frustration. His silence only encouraged her lividness.

"Why are you so fucking cold to me?!" She bellowed.

"So _you_ don't get hurt." He bit back.

She halted at the softness of his voice. His eye was averted looking to the left, his silver brows furrowed.

"Or you," She couldn't help but say.

His eye saddened to a despairing shade of black. Like his dark, depressing past. His eye flickered back to her. "I _can't_ be hurt any _further_. You can." He stated and pushed off the wall, away from her. "I'm going to bed," He mumbled. He left down the hall and disappeared behind a door.

Immediately her feet moved on their own accord and they shot out of the apartment, getting outside as fast as they possibly could go. They didn't stop moving until she reached her apartment. Her hands fumbled numbly for her keys and she shoved them in the lock, twisted and pushed her door open, stumbling into the front hall. She closed the door behind her and leaned on it, slowly sliding down. His words echoed in her head like infinity. It didn't echo and fade out like her knocks had, it stayed in her head and seemed to stab at her heart with every echo.

"I can't be hurt any further, can't be..._hurt_... can't be hurt any further." They echoed and stabbed and echoed some more. Finally she pulled herself up and made her way to her room, and entered it. She flopped gracelessly on her bed, kicking off her shoes and wriggling up to her pillow, eyes starting to water. She clenched them shut.

_Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. _The mantra was repeated continually in her head.

She finally gave in after a few dry heaves. Sobbing heavily, she curled into a little ball. Her breathing was ragged as she coughed loudly and struggled to breathe through her tears. Her body was wracked with sobs, shuddering never ceasing. She hiccoughed and sobbed, heaving up more tears. Her fingers had curled and turned white.

Slowly she was reduced to shivering and then her breathing was still ragged but not gasping. Saline tracks continued to run from her eyes but she was asleep. Her lips with twisted into a grimace.

-C O L D-

A week had passed since Kakashi and Sakura had fought. Sakura kept herself busy and tried not to think of it, she was at the hospital from 6 a.m. 11 p.m. After that she would go home and work on case files until 2 a.m. Kakashi was on a week-long mission as of late. From 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. she would attempt to sleep.

Kakashi was to come back sometime today. She frowned as her expression clouded. She headed to the surgery room and pulled on her gloves for today's surgery. She looked at the case file. Severe hemorrhaging to the liver, punctured lung and a broken rib. She would have a thrill with this one. She was thankful this was the last of the day. Or rather, night. She entered the room and put a smile on her face at her assistants.

Wiping sweat off her forehead, she yawned loudly as she walked down the hall towards her office. She cracked her neck and easily pushed open the door. She had just come to grab some paperwork and head home. She expected a normal messy office. Not a messy office with her sensei out _cold_ on the couch with a bleeding wound to the chest, vest discarded on the floor.

"Oh my _God_," She gasped out forgetting that she was still mad at him and rushing to his side. Punctured lung, ripped tissue, two broken ribs and a murky blood colour. She assumed it was poison. Immediately the medic in her awoke and took over. She pulled out a spare pair of gloves, and sent her chakra into his system. She located one of the piece of the ribs and fitted it on each of the counter-parts deciding the former was a better fit than the latter. She then encouraged calcium build-up in the bones so that it would re-attach. She then frantically searched for the other lost piece of rib. She finally found it lodged in the lung. She carefully pulled it out with chakra and re-attached it the same way as before.

She moved onto the lung. She quickly emptied it of its detritus and sent chakra to the tear and closed it by speeding up the process of cell division therefore regenerating cells and closing the hole. She left a tiny opening and inflated the lung, repairing the bronchioles in the process and then finished closing the hole. Her brows furrowed as his breathing continued slowing but slowing to a rate lower than normal which was probably the poison acting up.

She formed the little ball that she first used when Kankurou was poisoned. She slowly pulled out some poison and emptied it into a coffee mug. She continued the process and filled two full mugs that she had forgotten to bring home. She then cleansed his blood system and sped up the process of red blood cells. She repaired the gash on his chest so that it was flawless but still he would need rest. She placed her hand on his forehead and found a high fever. She sent chakra into his system to help his chakra. She felt his chakra feebly react to hers and she felt a pang of sadness. Depositing a decent amount of chakra into his body, she stood shakily with both mugs of poison in her hands. She put them on her desk. She quickly wrote a note to the poisons and cures department and taped it to the first mug. She then made her way there and left it on the white table. Hurrying back to her office she heard a groan.

"Obito..." A strained whisper echoed into the room. She entered the room silently and went to the bathroom on the left she had in her office. She pulled out a washcloth and wetted it with cool water. Striding back to his side she crouched down, removed his hitai-ate and placed the cloth gently on his forehead. She paused at another whisper. "Rin," He grimaced in his sleep, his brow furrowed and his face lined with cold sweat. She checked his system once more with her chakra and found his chakra was circulating well. It spiked every once in awhile, she figured it was because of his nightmare. "Sakura," She stopped _dead_ at the mention of her name. Her brow furrowed in question, forgetting that he was asleep.

At that moment she remembered that he was asleep. She looked back at his eyes and realized they were _open_. She let out a startled squeak and fell backwards. When she recovered, she pulled herself back up. "H-hi." She said shyly.

"Hey," His voice was rough but his tone was relief.

"I healed you," She said. "You should sleep." She looked off to the side, a little embarrassed.

"Thank-you." He said before drifting back into unconsciousness. She found that his thank-you sounds much better than _his_. At that, she let a small smile grace her lips.

Pulling herself off the floor she went behind her desk and slumped in her padded chair. Her eyes fluttered shut too fast for a single thought to form. A small smile was on her lips as the two inhabitants in the room slept peacefully.

-C O L D-

Yeah, Ita-ta here again. Mwah.

I don't own Naruto.

PLEASE REVIEW.


	3. Peace Offering

Right, so Ita-ta here.

Thanks for reviewing.

I'm such a lazy ass.

I'mma finish this fic this weekend.

Light filtered into the room through half-closed blinds. A groan filled the air as a very exhausted pink-haired medic lifted her head. She slowly cracked open her eyelids and shut them immediately again. "Mmmrgh," She groaned, her hand coming to her head. As a result of using her chakra _way too much_, she had a massive headache. "Wonderful," She mumbled and gave a large yawn. She heard the door open and she blearily tried to make out who it was through bleary eyes.

The sweet scent of a mocha latté filled her nose and she perked up considerably. When she realized who it was holding the drinks she gasped. "You're supposed to be lying down!" She immediately reprimanded before she could stop herself.

"Morning to you too." Kakashi greeted somberly. "I took a morphine pill this morning," He said, so she wouldn't worry. "I brought you advil." He added.

She groaned again at the reminder of her headache, it seemed as if it were strengthening. "I thought I was supposed to be mad at you." She mumbled before taking the mug and advil. She popped the pill in her mouth and took a swig of the mocha. "Thanks."

"Think of it as a peace offering," Kakashi said softly and sat down on the couch. Sakura got up and approached him carefully.

"You're not in any pain?" Kakashi shook his head.

"Not really." Sakura nodded and flopped on the couch, her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry." They started in unison. "Me too." They said. The both smiled a little.

"So will you help me understand you a little?" She asked him.

"It's a long story." Kakashi sighed.

"I got time." Sakura stated.

"Alright. It all started with a man with long bonde hair and bright, bright blue eyes. Blue like the sky. He was the Yondaime Hokage and my sensei." Kakashi started.

"You had the Yondaime as your teacher?" Sakura asked, awed a little.

"Yeah. My team-mates were a boy and a girl. The girl was a lot like you. She could be loud and obstinate—but also kind and caring." Kakashi paused for a moment to let this sink in.

"Okay," Sakura wiggled a little to get more comfortable, pulling the blanket on the top of the couch over her.

"The boy had jet black hair and deep dark black eyes. They always shined with a mischievous curiosity. He was a Uchiha, but hyper and unpredictable. He was also a crybaby." Kakashi smiled at the memory.

"Mhm," Sakura said, to tell him she was listening.

"Him and I would always get in fights and he'd always be late..."

Sorry is really, really short but that's all I have time for I might update in a couple days.

PLEASE REVIEW.


	4. Notoriously Late Epilogue

_**Ita-ta here. Masashi owns everyone except those select few. Hope you like the ending.**_

**_Please review._**

A yawn escaped pink lips as she slowly opened her eyes. She realized that there was a weight on her and realized that Kakashi had his head resting on her shoulder, his arm wrapped comfortably around her waist. His nose was tucked into her neck and her legs were tangled in his. Their two mugs lay on the bedside table. She remembered the sad story of Kakashi's past.

Her small smile faded at the thoughts of what he had to go through. She marveled at the fact that he was still living today. He had a lot of willpower to actually live through all of the emotional hits that he's gone through. She now understood why he paid more attention to Naruto and Sasuke, they each had troubled pasts, he must have felt some kind of kindred relationship towards them because of what he went through. She assumed he couldn't connect as well with her because she couldn't relate to him. Of course, now she could, she's lived through Sasuke leaving Konoha, Sasuke attacking Team Yamato head on and other dark experiences.

They, over the years, had formed deep bonds with each other. It wasn't until five years and a month ago that Kakashi and her had discovered their feelings for each other. She called Sasuke, Naruto, Sai, Kakashi and Yamato her boys. She loved them to pieces and would be outraged if anything were to happen to them. She had realized that their team was a family, a dysfunctional one at that. She knew that they were the oddest team Konoha had ever produced, but the best.

Yamato, Kakashi and her acted as more mature moderators between the three rivalrous boys. Sasuke, Sai and Naruto sometimes earned large welts on their heads after Sakura smacked them for getting into a heated argument. More than once, while training, they decimated a training area. Once, Tsunade sent Team Kakashi on a mission in Snow to train so they would learn not to decimate training areas. They froze half to death and ended up running back to Konoha, Sakura and Kakashi staying back to finish signing some papers for their release back to Konoha.

Sakura smiled at the times where they had to move two tables together to accommodate their abnormal team. She smiled at the times when they made a snow pile and rolled around in it. She grinned, remembering the time when they had gotten bored and reenacted the Great Ninja War. Remembering the first time they had their first snowball fight, she was the first to successfully hit Kakashi straight in the face.

She was shaken from her reverie, remembering all of the things that they had done, by a shifting of the body behind her. She rolled over looking at the unmasked face of her former sensei. "Hey," She smiled.

"Hey," He replied, reaching up and cupping her chin, kissing her lips. "What're we to do today?" He asked her, giving a yawn as his thumb absently rubbed her cheek.

"We have to meet everyone at the old grounds, train together and then you and I are going to get some coffee. We have to check with Tsunade at the hospital about your Sharingan and I'll heal it again after that. Then we've got nothing until dinner when we have to meet everyone at Ichiraku." She replied with a smile.

He sighed and pulled her into a tight hug. "Can't we just sleep in until the afternoon?" He asked her.

"I'm afraid not," She smiled as she heard little feet pattering up the stairs and sounds of little fists knocking on their door. "Here come the menaces," She grinned.

He smiled as they heard the two voices outside the door.

"Do you think they're up yet?" A high-pitched one asked.

"Are you kidding, the old man sleeps forever. Mama probably is already at the hospital." A second one replied. Their voices sounded nearly the same but the second one held a bit more confidence.

"Old man my ass," Kakashi grumbled.

"Did you hear that?" The first voice said, a little hint of fearfulness in the voice.

"It's nothing," The second replied brashly. "Obito! Help me open it! I want to see what they got us for Christmas!"

The first voice, Obito said "I don't want to get into trouble by Mama or Daddy." It was shaking as if tears were welling. "I don't wanna Minato!" He whined.

"Please?" Minato's voice softened, "for me?" He asked.

There was silence from behind the door. Sakura looked at Kakashi skeptically. He shrugged and listened for the sniffling of Obito.

"'Kay," He said and the door unlocked and swung open. Sakura and Kakashi immediately faked sleep, even though they could sense Obito and Minato's chakra signatures.

The shock of white hair on two heads off-based the shining emerald eyes. Obito's hair was a little more unruly and his eyes were watery. Minato's eyes were determined, full of mischief. His hair was the same length of his brothers and they looked exactly alike.

"Uh oh." Minato whispered as he realized they both were in bed.

"Who were you calling old man again?" A voice whispered in his ear, Minato swinging around and poking his father with a plush kunai.

Obito was already overcome by giggles as Sakura held him in her arms, tickling his sides. He screeched with laughter and his tears in his eyes were of joy. "Mama stop it!" He shrieked. She carried him to the bed and snuggled up with him.

Kakashi picked Minato up by the scruff of his neck and carried him over to the bed, dropping him on it. Minato immediately scurried over to Sakura and Obito, hiding between his twin brother and his mother.

Kakashi made his way to the bed and sat on it, moving Obito onto his lap were the boy fell asleep. "See, we're going to sleep in after all." He grinned at Sakura.

"Mama, I wanna see the presents!" Minato whined, turning his eyes on his mother. His face was in a frown-pout expression, his little arms crossed in defiance.

"Not until Christmas," She grinned.

"But that's days away." He pointed out.

Sakura sighed. Minato and Obito were two of the most brilliant kids of their generation. They learned to speak better than anyone else at the age of three. They also loved to irritate Naruto, who adored them. They were best friends with Asuma, Shikamaru and Temari's child. However, Asuma was only two and couldn't speak well so predictably, the twins spent a lot of time together. The two were inseparable. So they didn't have much of a generation, but Sakura was sure there would be more.

"But it'll be a surprise," Kakashi said, relaxing into his reclining position.

"Fine," Minato still had that frown pout. After minutes of silence, Sakura stroking Minato's hair, all of them fell asleep. Needless to say, each of them were late for their activities that day. It was alright though, the Hatake family was notorious for being late.


End file.
